Was NOT happy with Pop Century

If the OP didn't POP, it's a good thing they didn't pick All Stars. I really don't mind staying at POP for a night when we arrive a day early for our DVC reservation...I would never pay for a "preferrred" room, though. And, since I wasn't familiar with it, I asked the CRO CM what the difference was when she asked me if I wanted preferred the first time I called for reservations.

I'll agree there is noise factor to POP, especially flushes. But I found the beds comfortable, and the rooms clean...and while the rooms are almost identicatal in interior design to All Stars, the upkeep and staff at POP is far superior IMO...and the food court at POP is much easier to navigate.
 
Sorry to hear about your bad experience at the Pop Century... :(

However, I hope the rest of your trip went smoothly! :)
 
Noise can definately be an issue, although we are usually so wiped out at night that sleep is not a major issue ;) . We had a poolside room two years ago at Pop and one night there was a major loud party going on way past midnight. That was a little rough, but it did abruptly stop at one point - we figured somebody finally complained :goodvibes .
 
Don't get me wrong but you get what you paid for- I'm not sure why someone would expect more from a value. It wouldn't be fair for you to pay such a lower rate compared to someone staying at the Poly. You expected too much and were disappointed. You don't get a frig in the room- that's for the mod's and up - again you would have had to pay more for the 'better' room and items in the room.
I stay over at Fort Wilderness in a cabin, I pay over $300 a night to get what I want- and even with paying that sometimes the beds are crap... with springs poking me in the back. I've also stayed at a value and knew what I was getting myself into- so I wasn't disappointed. ;) Live and learn, huh?
 

pop is not a good resort at all..the noise from the next room is unreal..you can hear everyting going on...it likr paper tin..its huge ..way too big for a nice resort feeling..iv stayed there 3 times and im staying there in sept,,and not really looking foreward to it..i prefer allstars..but i just go with the wife and she want to stay threre agian...it time away...form home..but just not a resort feeling there..we go to diney 3 to 4 times a year and i look forward to sports resort..smaller ..cozier..3 floors not 4 and smaller food court no wait at all.

I enjoy the All Stars also ( Music is my favorite.)

Please see my info thread For the reasons why I enjoy All Star Music so much.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=18641909#post18641909

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To the OP:

So sorry you were disappointed. :hug:

Here are a few tips to help reduce room noise at Disney or anywhere else you travel in the future:

I stay at the values quite often and have never had an issue with noise.

The noise issues come with :

1. The main pool is located very close to some of the value rooms.

The themed pools at the mods and deluxes are set away from the rooms.

Tip: Ask for a room facing away or located a ways from the main pool.

2. Turbo toilets

The Values are newer and have the turbo toilets.

Tip: Close your bathroom door at night because noise travels through the plumbing.

3. Connecting rooms

About 50% of the value rooms have connecting doors.

Noise will travel under the connecting doors in a room.

Tip: If you have noisy neighbors open your connecting door and place a rolled up bath towel on the floor between then close and lock your connecting door.

Some guests have found that a fan or white noise machine helps them sleep better.

These tips should help you get a restful sleep wherever you choose to stay.

Have fun at Disney!:wizard:
 
I've been to Disney many many times and have never stayed at anything other than a value resort. To me- the rooms are fine. They're inexpensive and suit their purpose. Afterall- I'm paying to go to disney and do things in the parks. I don't have any intention of just staying at the hotel all day. So for me- the value resorts are the way to go. And POP is by far our most favorite.

In two weeks- I will be going to Disney yet again however this time we'll be staying at the POR. I hope our stay at POR will be as fun as it's always been at POP and ASM. My kids are really fond of the Disney themed statues and buildings. I'm hoping that the POR will be themed as well. I'm guessing that it's not just based on the pics I've seen. Personally- even though 2 rooms at the POP would've cost pretty much the same as one room at POR- if I would've had the option I'd have taken POP in a heartbeat. Unfortunately no rooms were available and we had to look elsewhere.
 
I did not mean to start a debate. Having stayed at a deluxe and a moderate, I was hoping for "some" disney magic. I just didn't get it there. It felt crowded & noisy, and we felt rushed. The CMs, with a couple exceptions, just brushed us off. We would walk by a resort CM and not be acknowledged.

The thing with the toothpaste....If they said, sorry we down offer any, we would have been perfectly ok with that.....but we were told that someone would be right up with it. Thats what upset us.

In regards to research, DH scoured the resort thread. We knew about the beds and the thin walls but nothing prepared us for the poor service.

An early poster said that Value Resorts are not for everyone....I will agree. I will most likely return to a Mod or Deluxe for future trips.

I did not start this thread to cause a fight or to anger anyone. I just wanted to make my feelings known. I could have had the same bad experience at a deluxe and I would probably had someone else upset that I didn't like that hotel. :confused3

:hippie: Can't we all just get along?:love:
 
Sorry you didn't have a good experience at Pop. :guilty: We have stayed there 3 times in the past 2 years and have been pleased every single time. We knew there wouldn't be a fridge (moderate and above) and we knew the beds would be small (queen in deluxe hotels). I guess it just depends on your expectations. Noise has never been a problem and we have stayed in the 50's twice. :confused3 Given that we want to take long trips - value is all the more we can afford. I'll see how spoiled I get by the moderate for the first time in December;)
 
I am so sorry you were disappointed when you did not get connecting rooms.

Many years ago we did not get connecting and I know how disappointing and frustrating it can be. That is the reason why whenever the connecting room question comes up I try to warn others. Most of the time guests get the connecting rooms but sometimes......well this isthe post that I post just to let others know not to count on connecting rooms:

---------------------------------------------------

As a mother of 4 (All grown now. My oldest is in her 30's and my youngest is 22) I often wished Disney had more options for larger families.
When the children were younger and we would go to Disney they did not have DVC or the family suites. In fact Disney did not have a Moderate until CBR opened in the late 1980's so if we wanted to stay onsite we either rented 2 rooms at a deluxe or stayed in the cabins.

I wrote to Disney many times over the years asking for more options for families so when I heard they were building the New Family Suites at All Star Music it just made me so happy!

In the late 80's I booked 2 connecting rooms at CBR for my family.
When we checked in there were no connecting rooms left but we were able to get rooms next to each other on the second floor.
Our two oldest were teens so I put them in one room and the 2 little ones who were 5 and 7 stayed with us. It worked for us because our older children were able to stay in a room without us but if they were younger DH and I would have had to split up.

Disney may say they guarantee connecting rooms but in reality Disney does not guarantee connecting rooms.

If there are 2 adults Disney can split the adults and children into two rooms that are not connecting. They try hard not to do this but it can and does happen sometimes. If however it is one adult with 5 children Disney should try harder to find connecting rooms since some of the children cannot be left in a room without an adult. But if you look at the threads posted below you will see that sometimes even Disney mixes up.


It does happen. Far too often IMHO.

From this thread;

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1145289

mydogisbo said:
Just wanted to re-iterate what others have said:

We requesting connecting rooms at CBR in January--not really a busy time & we were early for check-in. They did not have us in connecting rooms. They said they could accommodate us, but it would be smoking rooms--which was our #1 request non-smoking.

We were side-by-side, so we just went outside to go next door, so it wasn't a huge deal for us. But if you definitely want to be together--I would go with a suite. You could also look into renting DVC points for a villa.



Here are a couple more threads about guests not getting connecting rooms:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1095679

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=785797&page=1&pp=15

From this thread:

http://disboards.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=13528958

taximomfor4 said:
One of the threads that Linda posted a link to was my experience last March. I had many conversations with the higher-ups at Guest Services and was told that even if it says "guaranteed" it is not truly "guaranteed." It just has higher priority over the "requests." Because on a given day, there might only be 25 connecting room sets opening up, but 27 "guaranteed connecting rooms for families" ressies checking in. 2 of those families are not going to get their "guarantee."

I know, I was shocked that we had to fight so hard to get put in rooms that had just been fumigated for lice (they were taken out of the inventory, but re-opened because we insisted we needed rooms.) I sort of assumed that if they didn't have the rooms for us, they'd find rooms elsewhere on Disney property. For that stay, we were sometimes 2 adults and sometimes only 1. Now we will book offsite if we need to do that again. If there are 2 of us adults, we book connecting and hope for the best. Otherwise, we'll split the kids.

My point is to make backup plans if you are depending on connecting rooms.

That is one of the main reasons if my family were young I would choose a Suite over 2 connecting rooms or I would be prepared that I may need to split the family up and sleep in a different room than DH.
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Please do not shoot the messenger. I just do not want others to be as disappointed s our family was.


Have fun at Disney!:wizard:
 
Connecting rooms are never guaranteed except when children will be occupying the room next to the parents. If the resort was full, it was full. Did you expect them to relocate people for your convenience?

Value resorts have full beds. Not sure where you got the idea they would be queens.

Preferred means closer to the lobby and bus stop. not sure where you got the idea you would get a fridge.

In all honesty it sounds to me like you simply didn't do your homework and are now angry with the resort as a result. It's unfortunate that you were disappointed, hopefully next time you'll do a little more research before you book to ensure a resort that's closer to your wants and needs.

Anne

DITTO!:thumbsup2 We always choose Values because if we didn't we couldn't afford a visit every year. Hands down, Pop is our favorite for a number of reasons two of which are the great photo ops and the Hippy Dippy pool. Sorry you didn't care for Pop. As other posters have said, maybe you need to think about a Deluxe next time.
By the way, www.allearsnet.com has pictures of the inside of resort rooms.
 
We don't like the values either. We only stayed for one night and we couldn't wait to check out and head to POR. I am glad Disney has them because they are enjoyed by a lot of people, but they are not for me.
 
I'm think guarantee connecting rooms should be a category that you can pay for and get, just like at WL and AKL you can pay extra for a bunk bed room. Lord knows Disney likes to charge more for water views, preferred rooms, bunk beds, and everything else they can think of. I am suprised they haven't already.
If I was in the situation that I needed connecting rooms, I would be happy to pay a few more bucks for it. We have been lucky the 2 trips the inlaws went with us we had connecting rooms. This was real nice with a toddler.
 
I'm think guarantee connecting rooms should be a category that you can pay for and get, just like at WL and AKL you can pay extra for a bunk bed room. Lord knows Disney likes to charge more for water views, preferred rooms, bunk beds, and everything else they can think of. I am suprised they haven't already.
If I was in the situation that I needed connecting rooms, I would be happy to pay a few more bucks for it.

I agree!:thumbsup2
 
OP, I'm with you...we won't stay at POP anymore.

We started out our WDW trips staying at POP & thought it was really good!
Then DH wanted to try CBR & we loved it!
Then, we joined DVC! Best purchase ever! :thumbsup2
 
We have stayed at Moderates and thought they were alittle stuffy for us. We love the values and love Pop the best. Our trip in July we booked a preferred in the 60's. My kids love being close to the foodcourt! Never had a problem with noise. Sorry you didn't enjoy POP....WE LOVE IT!:banana:
 
I have only stayed in Deluxe/DVC resorts since 2000 and before that moderates/DVC. However, this past June I stayed in Pop. I was staying by myself as I didn't want to sleep in the living room sofa at the BCV again. I'm 45 and deserve a bed.

I really was apprehensive about staying at a value, but was pleasantly surprised. I found the Cast Members extremely helpful and friendly. From the Front Desk staff to the Restaurant help, even the management, everyone was friendly and helpful. The room was indeed small and the flushing of toilets could be heard, but it was not intrusive.


As far as the feel of the resort, I still felt the Disney magic. I went in late June and the resort was crowded, but instead of feeling cramped, I felt part of the fun. I was able to meet some folks from England and spent many late nights hanging out w/ them. Man can they smoke....

I am staying there again in late Jan/early Feb before an 8 night stay at the BCV.
 
I never liked Pop C either. I knew what to expect with amenities and locations though and in all fairness we did get connecting rooms and there were 2 adults. I thought the beds were too hard and resort too busy. I was prepared for turbo flush and noisy pools and either of these things didnt bother me. I did like the lake area and thats one thing Pop C has over the other values. It was more the room decor, smokey room and 4 storey buildings that I didnt like. I wouldnt rule out value resorts though. Next time we stay value I would pick ASMU.
 
I have over the years stayed at all the resorts including DL. IMO after being there so many times I only look at it as a place to rest at night as long as its clean. I consider POP to be a gem! I would rather spend my other vacation money on DDP at WDW or a cruise. The money I'm saving on this next 10 day trip will be a big deposit on a 14 nt, Panama Canal trip! JMO

I like the POP .............
mr_six_old_guy_lg.jpg
PopCentury2.jpg
:thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
 
No towel animals? :(

Is that a definite, or just "luck of the draw, my maids did it" thing?
 


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